


Trade sweet sleep for fears

by Vintervittran



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Being a Hero is hard, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Peter Parker Has Nightmares, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Tony Stark is trying his best to be a good mentor, and a bit fluff i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:07:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25226545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vintervittran/pseuds/Vintervittran
Summary: “It’s just… it’s dumb, superheroes shouldn’t have nightmares!”Tony raises one eyebrow at him and puts a hand over his heart in mock hurt, “Are you calling me dumb? Kid, you wound me.”Peter blinks a few times and his eyes grow comically large. “Wait, you have nightmares?”“Do I have nightmares? Kid, I’m the king of nightmares.”***Written for the prompt Peter having nightmares
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 19
Kudos: 61
Collections: The Friendly Neighborhood Exchange





	Trade sweet sleep for fears

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jelly_pies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jelly_pies/gifts).



> This is for the lovely [Jelly-pies](https://jelly-pies.tumblr.com/), I hope you enjoy it darling <3 
> 
> This is my first fic in this fandom (and only my second ever) and English is not my first language, so I’m equally excited and scared to post this! Big thanks to [littlestarlitdreams](https://littlestarlitdreams.tumblr.com/) who beta read for me and to my friends Natalia and Hanna for your endless support, without you I wouldn’t have dared to write (let alone post) this at all.

The first time Tony notices it, they’re in the lab. After the Vulture incident he had been determined to keep a closer eye on the kid, and after the kid had turned down the offer to become an Avenger, Tony had been the one who proposed they make the internship real. Well, semi-real at least. He had bought back the tower (the buyer was not happy, but Tony had offered him a quite frankly ridiculous amount of money, so he had eventually agreed to it) and though all of the Avengers stuff was still at the compound - as was most of Tony’s labs - he had decided to keep the SI business in the tower as well as keeping his penthouse and his personal lab.

Peter would come by once a week to repair his suit or work on upgrades for it. Even if he had been the one to suggest it, Tony had dreaded the first time the kid would come over. He had braced himself for an hour of awkward silences and not knowing what to say. What the hell did you even talk about with a teenager?

But he needn’t have worried. Peter didn’t seem to know what an awkward silence was. He chatted away at a million miles an hour, talking about anything from patrolling to school to the latest Star Wars movie, and Tony found that he didn’t really mind the endless chatter. In fact, he enjoyed it. Peter’s seemingly ceaseless energy and constant happiness made him relax in a way that few things managed these days, and soon enough he found himself looking forward to the kid’s visits.

They fell into a comfortable routine. Sometimes they’d work in silence, music blasting in the background, each concentrating on their own project. Tony never ceased to be amazed by just how brilliant Peter Parker was. The ideas he would come up with for updating his suit or his webs were nothing short of genius, and he easily kept up with Tony in the lab.

Other times they’d work together, Tony showing Peter how to fix a broken suit or to program an AI (“ _Not that you seem to have any problem with that since you already hacked Karen once_ ,” Peter had had the good grace to look ashamed but Tony only ruffled his hair and kept showing him Karen’s coding). Sometimes they’d work on the Iron Man suits, and sometimes Tony let Peter see his latest inventions for SI (Peter had quite a few good inputs and ideas that they would test out together, and more often than not Tony ended up including the changes in the finished products).

This day however, Tony is working on a better brace for Rhodey’s leg and Peter is sitting at his desk (yes, _his_ desk. With the kid there as often as he is, Tony might as well give him his own workspace. It’s only practical), scribbling in a notebook and trying to come up with a new formula for his webs that will make them last longer before dissolving. There’s soft rock playing in the background (lower than Tony usually plays it when he’s alone, but the kid’s ears are sensitive and he soon learned to turn the volume down a few notches when Peter was around) and Tony is completely focused on his work. So focused that the sudden whimper startles him enough that he almost drops the screwdriver he’s holding. He looks around to locate the sound and his eyes fall on Peter. The kid is slumped forward in his chair, one arm on the desk and cheek pressed against the notebook he’d been writing in. He’s clearly fast asleep. Tony had noticed how tired the kid had seemed today, but Peter had insisted he was fine, so he’d let it slide. The sight of the sleeping kid might have been adorable if it wasn’t for the fact that Peter’s face is screwed up in a grimace of fear and his shoulders are shaking. FRIDAY, bless her, turns the music off unprompted and now Tony can hear how irregular and panicked Peter’s breath sounds.

“Kid?” Tony gets up from his chair and hesitantly steps closer to the sleeping kid. He doesn’t quite know what to do. He and Peter had grown closer these past couple weeks, that was true, but Tony in no way feels ready to handle a kid with nightmares. Hell, he can’t even handle his own nightmares, much less a kid’s. Especially a kid he has known for less than a year. They’re not…there yet.

The kid whimpers again, louder this time. His breaths come in short panicked gasps and Tony’s heart clenches. Ready or not, he can’t just stand there and do nothing. In a few short strides he’s by Peter’s side and puts a hand on the kid’s shoulder.

“Kiddo, wake up.”

Peter immediately jolts awake, shooting up straight in his chair so fast that he almost knocks into Tony. His eyes are wide and he looks frantically around the room, hands automatically coming up to defend himself.

“Whoa whoa, hey, it’s just me kid, just me.”

Peter’s eyes land on Tony and he seems to relax. “Mr. Stark?” He blinks a few times and shakes his head, a hand coming up to rub his eyes. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep, I didn’t realize I was this tired, I just…”

Tony holds up a hand and Peter cuts off his rambling apology. “It’s alright, kid, no need to apologize.”

Peter fidgets with his shirtsleeves and his eyes keep glancing around the room as if he’s looking for a threat. He looks so damn much like the kid he is right then, and the words are out of Tony’s mouth before he really makes a conscious decision to speak, “Bad dreams?”

Peter’s gaze snaps up to Tony’s. “Oh, n-no, I’m fine, Mr. Stark.”

“You sure? Cause if you wanna talk about it…” He trails off awkwardly, not really sure if he actually wants Peter to talk about his nightmares or not, and damning his mouth for deciding to speak without permission.

“No no no, Mr. Stark, it’s fine, I’m fine, I mean it’s, it’s nothing really.”

A part of Tony wants to push, but another part of him is grateful to let it go.

“Okay, well, it’s getting late anyway. I’ll have Happy drive you home.”

“Yeah, okay. Bye, Mr. Stark.”

“See you next week, kid.”

****

It’s a few weeks later when FRIDAY interrupts Tony in his work to inform him that Peter is currently climbing up the tower.

“He’s what?” Tony’s more than a little confused (and maybe just a little bit worried). It’s not their lab day and the kid has never dropped by unannounced earlier.

“ _Peter Parker is climbing the tower, boss,_ ” FRIDAY repeats. “ _Shall I open the window so he can get in?_ ”

“Yeah, yeah of course.”

Just a minute later, Peter Parker appears at the window, basically falling into the lab. His suit is rumpled and half covered in what looks eerily close to burn marks, and just the way the kid holds his left hand pressed against his chest makes every warning bell scream in Tony’s head.

“Kid, what the hell?” Tony hurries toward the kid just as Peter yanks his mask off, revealing a slightly dazzled look on his face and static hair that sticks right up.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Stark, I didn’t mean to just barge in, I know you’re probably busy and it’s not our lab day and…”

He cuts off in the middle of his ramble when Tony grabs his chin, turning his face and looking for any injuries. “Why do you look like you just collided with a lightning bolt? Are you hurt?” Tony tries to go for a light tone, but his voice betrays him and he sounds more worried than he intended. He just doesn’t get it. Karen is supposed to notify FRIDAY every time Peter gets hurt on patrol and FRIDAY knows damn well to give him those updates immediately. But there’s been no words from either AI that explains why Peter looks like he had a fight with a powerline.

“Oh no, no, I’m fine, Mr. Stark,” (Tony somehow doubts that very much but he doesn’t interrupt), “it’s just...uhmm…” Peter scratches at his neck, not meeting Tony’s eyes, “My… uhm… well, this guy had some sort of alien-tech gun and … well, I tied him up and handed him to the police but I think he fried my suit cause Karen is not answering me and I thought I could fix that when I come here for my internship next Wednesday but my…uhmm… my backpack got destroyed.”

“Your… wait what?” Of all the things Peter could have ended his story with, _that_ was not what Tony had expected. At least if Karen was broken it would explain why he hadn’t been notified that the kid was hurt.

“My backpack got destroyed.” Peter is still looking at his feet, toying with the mask as he talks, “And… and usually, I would just climb in through my bedroom window but they’re doing some sort of repairs outside the apartment so I’ll be seen if I climb in… and Ned’s cousins are visiting over the weekend so I can’t go to him to borrow clothes either and…and I just thought…that um… maybe… that I could…” Peter’s voice trails off awkwardly and Tony takes pity on him.

“You need clothes?”

Peter nods at the floor, ears red enough to match his suit.

“I’ll get you some. Just,” Tony sighs and gives Peter a quick once-over, “Are you okay? Do you need me to call a doctor or something?”

“Oh no no no, I’m fine Mr. Stark. I think Karen took the worst hit.”

Tony only huffs at that. From the way the kid is still holding one of his wrists against his chest, Karen wasn’t the only one who had taken a hit.

“FRI, how is he really?”

Peter looks indignant and opens his mouth to protest but FRIDAY’s voice comes before he can say anything.

“ _Mr. Parker has multiple burns caused by the electricity, multiple bruises on his left side, and his left wrist appears to be sprained._ ”

“What?? And you _climbed_ up here?”

Tony drags Peter over to the sofa in the corner of the lab, forcing him to sit down.

“Really, Mr. Stark, it’s fine. I heal, like, super-fast so it’ll probably all be gone in like a few hours, tops.” Peter doesn’t look at all concerned about his injuries. Tony, however, is.

“Fast healing or not, you do not climb a 100-stories high tower with a sprained wrist! Now take off the suit, I’m gonna examine you.”

“I didn’t think you were that kind of doctor.”

Tony raises an unimpressed eyebrow at him. “I’m not, but unless you wanna take a trip to the medbay…” The kid frantically shakes his head, “Then I’m at least gonna take a look at you. Now, suit off.”

Peter reluctantly hits the spider symbol, making the suit deflate and slide off, revealing his bare torso. There’s bruising all along Peter’s left side, but it looks like it’s already fading. What’s more disturbing is the angry red burns spreading from the middle of his chest and circling his wrists. Tony presses his lips into a thin line.

“FRI?”

“ _I would recommend putting a burn cream on those burns, Boss. It would also be advisable to bandage Mr. Parker’s wrist to keep it immobilized and put some ice on it. But with Mr. Parker’s healing abilities, given enough rest, he should be completely healed within approximately two hours._ ”

“Mr. Stark, it’s fine, really. You don’t have to…”

“Nuh-uh, you heard FRIDAY. Now wait here, I’m gonna go grab some stuff.”

Tony hurries out of the lab and sprints back to the penthouse. His first stop is his bedroom, where he picks up a pair of pyjama pants that are small enough to fit the kid and one of his old MIT hoodies before he goes to grab bandages and some gel for burns from the first aid kit in the kitchen. He pauses for a second and then quickly makes a few sandwiches to bring as well. The kid will need some extra energy if his body’s going to heal properly.

When he comes back to the lab he finds the kid exactly where he had left him, head resting on the sofa’s backrest and eyes closed. He looks up when Tony steps into the room, trying (and failing) to not look tired. Tony dumps the clothes and the food on a nearby bench and sits down beside Peter.

“Okay, burns first.”

He carefully dabs gel on all the burns he can see and when he’s satisfied that they’re all covered, he goes to wrap Peter’s wrist with the bandage. He tries to be as careful as he can, but he sees the way the kid’s shoulders tense.

“I can’t believe you climbed 90 stories with this wrist.“

Peter looks sheepish. “Well I couldn’t exactly just walk into the lobby as Spider-Man, now could I?”

Tony just rolls his eyes and keeps wrapping the wrist, “The lobby people have seen weirder things. They’re used to superheroes wandering in. Now hold still.”

When he’s finished with the bandage, he leaves Peter to get dressed in the clothes he brought and goes to the freezer in the corner of the lab. He rummages around a bit and finds an ice package that he wraps in a towel before he goes back to Peter.

“Here, hold that to your wrist.”

Peter takes the ice and holds it to the bandaged wrist, curling up in the corner of the sofa. “Thanks for the clothes Mr. Stark, I’ll wash them and return them on Wednesday.”

Tony waves his hand non-committedly and grabs the plate with sandwiches, handing them to Peter. “No rush. Now eat up and then you can rest while I fix your suit.”

“Oh, you don’t have to Mr. Stark, I’m sure you have other things to do.”

“If Karen got knocked out then other things might be broken as well and we can’t have you swinging around town with a broken suit, now can we? That reminds me, what exactly happened?”

“Uhmm…” Peter starts to wolf down the sandwich, speaking in between bites, “I was done patrolling really so I went to pick up my backpack to change, but then I saw this crazy purple light and I heard this ‘whoosh whoosh,’ like that sound a lightsaber makes, you know, and it was coming from this store and I knew this store was closed on Fridays so I went to investigate. You know, just in case.”

Tony hums and picks up the spider-suit, carrying it to one of his workbenches to try and find what’s wrong with it, while Peter continues his story.

“And there was this guy inside trying to open this safe thing and he had this super weird glowing weapon thingy and it looked a little bit like those things the Vulture had, so I guess this guy must have gotten it from there. And I went in there just like, ‘ _Hey, I’m pretty sure that’s not how you open a safe,_ ’ and yeah, honestly that wasn’t a very good line but I was really tired cause I’d already patrolled for a while and we had this history test in school today and honestly, Mr. Stark, history is not my strongest subject. Like I have alright grades at it, but I just don’t seem to be able to remember all the dates and years and stuff, not like MJ anyway, she’s top of the class in history and one time on an AcaDec competition…”

“Kid, the guy with a weapon?” Tony reminds him, gently steering Peter back on track. Good lord, even injured that boy could talk for an eternity.

“Oh, right, right. Uhm, yeah so he kinda started shooting at me, which by the way, _rude_ , and at one point I had to use my backpack as a kind of shield but it was very much not an effective shield, like maybe 4/10, cause I mean sure it stopped the blast a bit but it also sorta turned to ash. And the blast hit me anyway and it must have been some sorta energy thing cause it, like gave me a shock and Karen just disappeared. But yeah, I webbed him up pretty fast after that, and then the police came to pick him up and since all my clothes had been in the backpack, I thought… well, you know. Thanks again for letting me borrow clothes, Mr. Stark.”

“Don’t mention it, kid. Now let’s revive Karen.”

“I could help…” Peter cuts himself off with a big yawn and Tony only raises an eyebrow at him.

“No, you look like you could fall asleep any second. You heard FRIDAY, you need plenty of rest for your healing to work.”

Not even 5 minutes later, the kid is fast asleep on the couch. Tony drapes a blanket over him (god he’s getting soft) and goes back to examine the suit.

He works in silence for a little more than an hour. He’s fixed most of the suit by then, and is working on a new code, Protocol Blackout, that will alert him if Karen suddenly goes offline like this again. With the damage that was done to the suit, Tony is grateful for the fact that the kid is relatively unharmed, but he can’t help but worry about what could have happened. If something like this happens again, with the new protocol, at least Tony will be alerted and can come to the kid’s aid if he needs it.

The scream is completely unexpected. It’s low and sounds muffled and Tony immediately jumps up, heart racing, repulsor already forming around his hand. His eyes land on the kid curled up under the blanket. Peter is shaking and his eyes are moving frantically behind his closed eyelids. Before Tony has time to process what is going on, Peter screams again, a desperate, panicked sound that is muffled by the fact that his face is half turned into the sofa, and Tony hurries over to him, repulsor retreating back to a watch. A nightmare, not a threat to fight, but something, which Tony knows all too well, can be even more frightening than any real danger. This nightmare seems far worse than the one Peter had had when he fell asleep in the lab a few weeks ago and Tony doesn’t hesitate this time but gently shakes his shoulder to wake him.

“Kid? Hey, Pete, wake up!”

Peter’s eyes fly open, but he continues to draw desperate, panicked breaths and he doesn’t really look awake even when he flings himself up in a sitting position.

“Hey hey hey, it’s alright kid, it’s alright, it was just a dream, just a dream, you’re okay. Just breathe. That’s right. Deep breaths. That’s right, you’re okay, kid.” Tony keeps his hand on Peter’s shoulder and keeps murmuring calming words until the kid’s breathing sounds normal and he looks at Tony.

“Mr. Stark?”

“Yeah. You okay?”

Peter rubs a hand over his face and shakes his head a little, as if to shake off the memories of the dream. “I... I’m fine.”

“You sure? Cause that looked like a pretty intense nightmare if you ask me.”

“Yeah…yeah, no, it’s… it’s nothing important.”

“The fact that your shoulders seem to be stuck up by your ears tells me otherwise.”

Peter drops his shoulders but still looks tense, fiddling with his shirtsleeves, eyes refusing to meet Tony’s. “It’s just… it’s dumb, superheroes shouldn’t have nightmares!”

Tony raises one eyebrow at him and puts a hand over his heart in mock hurt, “Are you calling me dumb? Kid, you wound me.”

Peter’s eyes grow comically wide, sheer horror on his face as he snaps his head around to look at Tony.

“No no Mr. Stark, I didn’t mean, I…” He blinks a few times and his eyes grow, if possible, even larger. “Wait, _you_ have nightmares?”

“Do I have nightmares? Kid, I’m the king of nightmares.”

Peter’s eyes are still wide but he looks a bit sceptical, as if the fact that Iron Man has nightmares is something so absurd that he can’t really believe it. Tony sighs. He’s not good at opening up to people. But something about the vulnerable expression on the kid’s face tells him he can’t joke away the situation like he would normally try.

“Kid, listen. Being a hero, it’s tough, and it’s bound to come with a lot of shit. We’ve all had our fair share of trauma. I sure as hell have mine, and that comes with its fair share of nightmares. Hell, I don’t think any of the Avengers are free from nightmares. And we’re grown people. You're just fifteen, and you’ve already been through more shit than most adults experience their entire life.” Tony's mind provides him with pictures of the plane crash, of Peter’s face that day he’d finally told him about the Vulture dumping a warehouse on him, and he feels a stab of guilt. Those particular traumas are on Tony, and he hasn’t quite forgiven himself for them. “Nightmares are a part of being a hero, I guess. I wish it wasn’t like that, but it is. And you, kid, are one hell of a hero. Having nightmares doesn’t mean you’re less of a hero, it just means you’re human.”

Peter looks hesitant but slowly nods anyway, and Tony can’t resist the urge to reach out and ruffle the kid’s hair. Peter makes a noise of protest and swats his hand away, but he smiles, so Tony counts it as a win. Then Peter casts an eye on his watch and his smile immediately drops, replaced with a distressed look. “Shit, I’m late! I need to head back home! May has a night shift tonight and she wants me to be home before she leaves.”

Tony doesn’t really know what makes him say it. Maybe it's the fact that Peter looks so small when he curls up in Tony’s hoodie, his bandaged wrist hidden by the too long sleeves. Or maybe it’s the fact that he still looks tense after the nightmare and Tony doesn’t want him to have to spend the night alone in his apartment. “How about I call your aunt and check if you can sleep here tonight? I can tell her we got carried away working in the lab and forgot the time, and that we need to finish it in the morning.”

The instant relief on Peter’s face tells Tony that maybe it was the right thing to say, even if the kid still looks a bit hesitant.

“Are you sure that’s alright Mr. Stark? I mean I can swing home, it’s really no trouble…”

“It’s fine, kid. Besides, I’m not quite finished with your suit yet. We can keep working on it tomorrow, make a day out of it.”

Before the kid can say something, Tony stands up and drags Peter with him. “Come on, let's head to the penthouse, I’m in the mood for a movie night.”

Tony leaves Peter in the living room to choose a movie while he calls May Parker, who, after a little convincing, agrees to let Peter stay at the tower overnight. Tony returns to the living room to find Peter curled up under a blanket, ‘A New Hope’ ready to play on the tv. Tony plops down next to him, grabbing his own blanket on the way. “Why am I not surprised that you decided on Star Wars?”

“Because,” Peter says in a tone as if he were explaining the most obvious thing in the world, “it's the best movie to ever exist.”

“Sure,” Tony snorts but doesn’t argue. “FRI, start the movie”

About an hour into the movie, Peter finally seems to relax, and not even half an hour later he falls asleep, his head falling to Tony’s shoulder. Tony finds that he doesn’t mind it at all. Instead, he adjusts the blanket around the kid and throws an arm around his shoulders. Maybe they _are_ there now.

A few minutes later, he’s asleep as well, FRIDAY automatically turning down the volume of the TV. Neither of them have any nightmares that night.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave kudos and/or comment, it would really make my day <3 or come talk to me at my tumblr [vintervittrannerd](https://vintervittrannerd.tumblr.com/)


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